Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 11th, 2022
This film was a new experience for me. As you all know, movies like this afford me the opportunity to share my passion for film with my daughter. However, as I put the movie on, she turns to me and says, “Daddy, you know what’s funny? I’ve already seen this.” I found that to be a confusing statement, as I was operating under the impression that this was a newly released title. However, as it turns out, though it is a new release for home media, the film was actually released on Netflix back in April 2021. At this point, I expected that she would attempt to excuse herself and occupy herself with one of her many new Christmas acquisitions. But no, she didn’t do that. Instead, she sat back and prepared herself to watch it again. That’s when I knew it had to be good, because my daughter doesn’t usually do repeats. Lo and behold, it was far better than good. I dare say that The Mitchells vs. The Machines was the best animated film that I saw all year.
The film follows a family of outcasts (that would be the Mitchells), which is comprised of father, Rick (Danny McBride), who is a bit of a survivalist albeit an accident prone one. Then there is the mother, Linda (Maya Randolph), a first-grade teacher who radiates positivity and acts as the family’s moral compass. Younger brother, Aaron (Mike Rianda) is socially awkward and obsessed with dinosaurs. Which leads us to Katie (Abbi Jacobson), the film’s focal point and the self-proclaimed outcast in this family of outcasts. All her life, she felt as though she didn’t fit in anywhere. Choosing to express herself through art, namely filmmaking, she feels misunderstood, particularly by her father, who never seems to have time for her.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 24th, 2021
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. Paramount Presents:
by Ellen Sassani
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 24th, 2021
I wanted to believe that it was possible. I really did. I wanted to believe that it was possible to make a quality addition to the iconic franchise despite nearly twenty years having gone by since the third film. But alas, here we are and it clearly wasn’t possible to make a quality addition to the franchise. I should have trusted my instincts. While the The Matrix: Resurrections may provide us with answer regarding the ultimate fate of Neo and Trinity, those answers come at the cost of entertainment. I am a firm believer in letting sleeping dogs lie, and I can honestly say that this franchise would have been better off without this latest installment, which in my opinion adds nothing to it. I’m honestly shocked at the fact of how disappointed I was with the film given that two-thirds of the main cast came back for the film. Trust me, we are also going to discuss the one-third that didn’t and the dishonorable way that they chose to continue the character.
While its been around twenty years for us since we’ve seen Neo or Trinity, the Matrix universe, it’s actually been around 60 years. When we last saw the couple, Trinity had been fatally wounding invading the machine city and Neo had sacrificed himself in order to destroy Smith and all his clones. Neo is last seen being carried away by the machines. So what happen? Apparently, Neo was reintegrated into the Matrix; his memories stripped and transformed into a video game in order to add a grain of truth to the lie that the machines are selling. Despite this, something about his reality still doesn’t sit completely well for him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 24th, 2021
In 1999 when The Sopranos first premiered on HBO, I don’t think anyone was expecting just how much it would change the television landscape. In its run it made cable TV a main contender for the Emmys, but it also changed the way we see TV, as it took the gangster movie dynamic and stretched it out into a series that ran successfully for 86 episodes. Then there was the way the series came to a close that has had fans and critics talking nearly 15 years after it last aired. It’s the show that raised the bar for what television can be and has been the standard since which only a handful of shows have been able to match in quality. Personally (and I know this is a controversial take), I’m only a fan of the first three seasons, but even a bad episode of The Sopranos is better than most television shows out there. There was talk for a while about spin-off shows and possible movies. This kind of talk would of course get fans excited, but the question always was, where can you go with the story? Then in 2013 when James Gandolfini died, it seemed like any possible revival was squashed.
Whenever I hear about a show or film wanting to do a prequel, I immediately think of what happened with the prequel trilogy with Star Wars. We all got excited; it was Lucas in full control, and he’d be telling us the story of how Vader became the big bad Sith in the galaxy far, far away. How did that work out for us fans? Now, granted, a film talking about how Tony Soprano became the gangster he would evolve to be is a very tempting idea. Then when you see how much his son Michael Gandolfini looks like his dad, man, it seems like a sure thing. Sometimes things should be left alone. Heck, we all expected the spin-off film El Comino following Jesse from Breaking Bad would be good, and how did that turn out? How about that Entourage film? I mean, there are so many examples that should have prepared us for this, but we all just wanted to believe that David Chase could surprise us all and deliver us just one more serving of the crime family we all love. The problem is he teased us all with the promise of one story, and instead he threw in so much more that no one wanted or cared about that he practically pissed all over a sure hit in the process.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 23rd, 2021
This is an origin story. That is the best way I can sum this movie up. I will repeat it again, so it is clear. This is an origin story. It was hinted at in the first film (Kingsman) how the Kingman intelligence agency was started; however, while it was excellently explained by Colin Firth, how the agency truly came to be was just sort of glossed over. With The King’s Man we get to experience the tale of the organization’s founder and his motivation for creating the organization. The story is informative and at times entertaining, but I must confess that it was missing the wit that the original film had. I would have to characterize this as a case of the original film being the best. In this instance, it is because of the wit and the manner in which the story flowed. I know what you are thinking, I’m disregarding the second film, and you are right; I am. In the case of Kingsman 2, I found it to be an unjustifiable and unnecessary sequel. Plus, the film pretty much lost me the moment that they came up with convoluted explanation for how Firth’s Harry Hart/Galahad managed to survive a bullet to the head at point-blank range. No offense intended to Mr. Firth, as I loved him as that character, but that was just bad storytelling. Then there is what they did with Mark Strong’s Merlin, but I’m getting off track.
In The King’s Man, we meet the man who started it all, played by Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes is an established English actor of the highest order; you need only look at his resume to see that. I mean, he’s been a part of several franchises to include Harry Potter and more recently the Daniel Craig-led James Bond films. Now he has a chance to be part of another franchise. Unfortunately, I don’t imagine there will be much potential in a continuation of his character. Not through any fault of Fiennes, but merely because this film was clearly intended as a prequel and additionally, the story wasn’t strong enough to warrant a return in my opinion. To its credit, the film accomplishes the goal it set out to accomplish: it establishes the agency’s origins. Outside of that, I just don’t see a reason for a continuation. To my mind, this actually argues for a conclusion of the franchise. I just can’t imagine a scenario where this series needs to continue.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 23rd, 2021
"80 billion light years of hive knowledge across universes would explode your tiny little brain."
Sony released two films from their corner of the Marvel universe in 2021. On October 1st we got Venom: Let There Be Carnage. October was a good spot for the film that taps into the horror film vein as much as it does the comic book superhero world. The first film did pretty well, and Sony really wants to expand their little corner of Marvel. The film did quite well in this post-COVID reality and pulled in $500 million in 11 weeks. That was impressive, to be sure. Spider-Man No Way Home was the other Sony/Marvel film. It had the unfortunate timing of releasing just as the Omicron variant of the virus hit, and as some states are going back to various restrictions there was some question if audiences would venture out into the cinemas in enough numbers to give the film any kind of return at all. After all, we've seen big-budget films fall to the wayside enough to understand this is risky business. That question has been answered. Yes, Let There Be Carnage pulled in a great haul in these uncertain times, but Spider-Man just pulled in more in three days than Carnage pulled in over 11 weeks. People are coming back to the cinemas, and is it any wonder at all that Sony is trying to position themselves to cash in on that trend with more than their cooperative films featuring everyone's Friendly Neighborhood webslinger? As far as live-action films go, the Venom series appears their best chance to do just that.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 22nd, 2021
“As long as we are looking over our shoulder, the past is not dead.”
When it comes to Daniel Craig’s Bond movies, I’ve found them to be hit-or-miss. There are those I love, such as Casino Royale and Skyfall, and then there are those that I wasn’t that into, such as Quantum of Solace and Spectre. However, when it comes to No Time to Die, there is no question that it is my favorite of all the Craig-led Bond movies. Maybe it was how long I’ve been waiting to experience it given that the onset of COVID resulted in the film’s release being delayed multiple times, so by the time it was finally here, I could barely contain my excitement. However, I think it is more likely that the reason is the knowledge that this will be Craig’s final portrayal as the suave secret agent with a penchant for shaken martinis. Either way, Craig’s swan-song film was without question great, despite certain elements not delivering on the hype. Craig leaves the franchise with is head held high, as I cannot imagine a more dignified exit for his portrayal.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 22nd, 2021
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. The Film Detective Presents: The Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection on Blu-ray.
"I'm just Holmes the busybody retained by the police to supply their deficiencies."
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2021
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. This spotlight is on Sony Pictures release of The Karate Kid 3 Film Collection in 4K.
In the 1970's, Pat Morita was pretty much a staple of the American television landscape. It's fair to say he often got work in a less politically correct era as a token Asian on situation comedies. He landed iconic recurring roles as Arnold, who owned the burger hangout in Happy Days, and Ah Chew, the target of Redd Foxx's bigoted antics on Sanford And Son. His is a long career in the annals of 70's television. While he did appear in a few feature films, none of these appearances had the lasting fame or adoration that he experienced as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid franchise. The role would define him for the remainder of his days. When Karate Kid appeared in 1984, it delivered a modest return at the box office but found some enduring returns in the young home video market. It was enough to score a sequel in 1986 that would become the best moneymaker of the franchise's original collection of four films. It pulled in enough scratch to warrant a third film, and that's pretty much where it all went downhill faster than a speeding bullet, which might have mercifully ended the movies on a high note.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2021
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. CW Shows on Blu-ray From Warner Brothers:
"My name is Nicky Shen, and this has been my home for three years. A Shaolin monastery in Yunnan Province, China. My mom sent me on a cultural tour of China. Turned out, it was really a matchmaking tour to land me a Chinese husband. Just one of the many ways my mom tried to control my destiny. I panicked. I ran. That was the first time anyone told me I had a choice in anything. I was only planning to spend the night. But then I saw something that I knew I wanted to be a part of. These women were warriors. And so I stayed. Pei-Ling became my Shifu, my mentor."
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